Kin recognition mechanisms are the mechanisms squirrels might use to recognize that an individual is kin. Kin selection, by contrast, favors related individuals evolutionarily. The kin selection hypothesis requires that individuals can recognize kin. Sherman’s data demonstrate that females are more likely to call when their kin are nearby.
Image Credit: Photo by Dr. Gwen Bachman, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Used with permission. To learn more about Dr. Bachman’s research with Belding’s ground squirrels, see http://bsweb.unl.edu/emb/bachman/index.html.
Originally published at http://www.sciencecases.org/kin_selection/kin_selection5.asp
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